We're A Team
by MidnightIsland
Summary: After barely managing to escape from Savannah, Clementine and Lee are on their own. Now they must survive as a pair, depending on each other to servive. Now with Clem mentally scarred from seeing her parents as walkers, and being kidnapped by a stranger, will Lee be able to take over Clementine's parents' job? Or will he fail as her carer and lose her to the apocalypse?
1. All That Remains

_We should go our own way when we get there. Our crew is falling apart. And you and I are stronger together._

 _What about the boat…? What about Ben?_

 _He'll be fine._

 _Okay… Can we at least look for my parents when we get there, before we go?_

… _They're dead. We have to move on…_

 _No they're not…do you want them to be?_

 _We need to separate from the group. But we'll look for your parents first…come here, hon. I'm sorry. Don't Cry._

 _If we don't find them, then we go. But if we do they come with us._

 _Okay. That's the plan…_

Lee walked further through the large fields surrounding Savannah, still holding Clementine comfortingly as she sobbed into his shirt. "Sshsshssh, it's alright." Lee said quietly, rubbing Clem's back.

"I saw them…" Clementine sniffed. "Both of them."

"I know. I'm so sorry, sweet pea." Lee said.

Clem lifted her head from Lee's shoulder and wiped her eyes with her sleeve. "You were right…I'm so sorry…" Clementine said, through quick and short breaths.

"What? No…no, it's my fault. I shouldn't have said something like that, you're only a little girl." Lee said, laying his hand gently on Clementine's head.

"How long did you know they were dead?" Clementine asked, as she lay her head back down on Lee's shoulder.

"What do you mean?" Lee asked.

"You wouldn't have said it if you didn't know…" Clementine said.

"When…when I was in your house. I heard the answering machine beeping, so I clicked it and there were three messages. One saying your dad had an 'incident' with a crazy guy. The next said they were shutting the city down. The last one was to tell you to call nine-one-one…" Lee sighed.

Clementine didn't say anything, she just looked around the endless fields, and attempted not to cry. She leaned back into Lee's arms and sighed, listening to the soft rustling of the nearby leaves and tall grass. "I…I don't know…I don't know what to do now…I don't feel good." Clem said, her voice incredibly choked up.

"Hush now…just rest. Let's just try and find Omid and Christa and get as far away from this city as we can, alright?" Lee said.

"Okay…" Clementine said. "Where do we go when we find them?"

"Not sure. I told them to meet us back at the train if we get out. Maybe try and get the train somewhere. Considering that hoards moved through." Lee said, confidently.

"Okay, that sounds…Lee…up there…" Clem whispered pointing weakly over to two distant and small figures on the top of a nearby hill.

Lee carefully put Clementine back on her feet, and pulled out the pistol from the back of his pants, checking the ammo magazine. "Just two bullets…crap…" Lee said.

"It could be Omid and Christa." Clementine said.

"It could also be strangers…" Lee said.

"Strangers are bad, right?" Clementine said.

"They can be…" Lee said, gazing at the hill, using his hand as a visor. "I can't see…if it is Christa and Omid then we need to meet back up with them. If it's…not…shit."

"Lee?" Clem asked, nervously.

"I think they see us…" Lee huffed.

"What do we do?" Clementine gulped.

"Sh, just stay calm. We got this. Dream team, right?" Lee said, humorously, attempting to lighten the mood.

"Right…" Clementine said, shakily.

Lee looked back up the two figures, they were definitely coming towards him; the figures were moving forward towards the two rather than across the hill like they were before. "Just let me do the talking. And act cute, on the chance they're not 'complete' assholes that might help." Lee said.

"Okay…act cute...how do I do that?" Clem asked.

"You're doing it. Just be yourself, that's enough…uh…take the hat off?" Lee said.

Clem hesitantly took off her hat and held it close to her chest.

"No, wait. Hat on." Lee said.

"Okay…so what do I-

"Hey, you armed?" A female southern voice said from next to Lee and Clem.

Lee snapped his head over and pointed the pistol in their direction. "That answer it? Look, I've had a shitty day, so why don't you just move the hell along." Lee growled violently.

"Thought so. I have no problem robbing assholes. The gun. Now. And that kid's radio." A man said, holding up a rifle in Lee's direction. "I would take your clothes, but you reek of death."

"Least I can wash that out…" Lee retaliated, tightening his finger on the trigger. "We seem to be at a crossroad. There's two options, we can shoot each other and a nine year old girl will be left on her own, or we can both leave…"

"Grab 'er." The man ordered.

The woman went to grab Clementine, being cut off by Lee shooting the man through the head without hesitation. "Holy shit!" The woman yelled, jumping down to grab the rifle, skidding down on her front. She quickly rolled around to point the rifle at Lee, reaching for the trigger, being stopped by a foot stepping down on the rifle's barrel.

Lee looked up to see Clem stepping down on it. The woman instantly pulled the rifle away, tripping Clem over. Just giving Lee enough time to grab the woman's collar, and sticking his handgun into her mouth. "I don't have a problem robbing assholes." Lee said before pulling the trigger, spraying blood and small pieces of brain across the nearby grass.

Clem slowly stood back, away from the pooling blood. Lee got up on his feet and placed the handgun in the back of his pants. "You okay, baby?" Lee asked, crouching down to Clementine's height.

Clem nodded looking around the two dead bodies. She smiled and knelt down by one of the bodies. After a second of fiddling around with something, she turned around, her back slightly bent backwards, trying to carry a heavy rifle over to Lee. "Here." Clementine groaned.

Lee smiled and took the rifle off of her, holding it by the barrel. "Good job, sweet pea." Lee chuckled. "We should keep you with handguns for now. C'mon let's get over to that train, the gunshots will've attracted walkers."

 **Hope you enjoyed that first chapter! After completing the game again (and crying into my pillow for the next hour) I just felt I had to make this story for my mental health xD I plan to make it exciting with returning characters, OCs and plenty of cute moments between Clementine and Lee, so it won't be some kind of big boring story that gets old quickly… xD we'll see!**


	2. You Have Me

"What the hell? It was right goddamn here…" Lee gasped. Noticing the disappearance of the train from the tracks where they had left it.

"What do we do now?" Clementine asked, taking Lee's hand, shuffling towards him nervously.

"Omid and Christa should be here…" Lee sighed. "No idea wha-

Lee cut himself off as he heard a loud, high-pitched and deafening tune behind him. He snapped his head around to see a sleek red muscle car, with small splashes of dirt and blood around the wheels and skirts of the car. Lee peered through the tinted windshield to see Omid with a bright grin stretching across his face, sitting next to him was Christa who was holding her forehead in her palm, shaking her head. "Hey guys!" Omid said, happily as he stuck his head out the window.

"Omid?" Lee asked, walking over to the car.

Omid lent on the window frame. "Hey, man. Like my ride?" Omid asked in a humorous deep accent.

"If it means getting away from here, then yeah. I do." Lee said.

"I'm with him. I want to get as far countryside as countryside goes." Christa said.

Lee opened the backseat door for Clementine with a tired smile. Clem crawled into the backseat, nearly collapsing onto them halfway, managing to shuffle herself towards the furthest window seat. Lee followed her in closely, sitting next to the door he had opened. Lee slammed the door shut, and smacked his head back on the seat in exhaustion. "Shit." Lee sighed.

"What a day…" Christa sighed as Omid pressed his foot down on the gas pedal, following the bumpy dirt pathway around the train tracks.

"You can say that again." Omid said. "What happened after you climbed down? That was pretty risky."

"Cut through the bastards. Found something out that's pretty helpful. Smell like the walkers and they'll leave you alone." Lee said.

"That explains why you smell like...'that'. How about before we go to the countryside we find some clothes, or a river. Something." Christa said with a small chuckle.

"Whichever comes first." Lee scoffed.

"We're just glad you two made it back okay. She alright?" Christa asked.

Lee looked over to Clementine, who was looking down at the distant city of Savannah, pressing her forehead up against the fogged-up window. "Clem?" Lee said, caressing Clementine's hand comfortingly. "Feeling any better?"

Clementine just stared at the city and down at the radio she was holding. The faded stickers, the slightly chewed antenna and the chipped plastic shell outside it. "Nu-uh…" Clementine squeaked.

"Are you gonna cry?" Lee asked.

Clementine nodded and fell backwards onto Lee's shoulder, crying and squealing. Lee wrapped his arms around her front, cuddling her into him. "It's alright." Lee said.

"No it isn't…" Clementine sobbed. "I don't have anything left…my mom, my dad, they're both dead…" Lee looked down at Clem then back up at Christa and Omid, Omid keeping his eyes on the road, glancing back at Christa every few seconds, whilst Christa was looking at Lee, waiting for him to help her. "You have me…" Lee said.

"Huh?" Clem mumbled.

"You have something. You have me. You have Omid and Christa, and by now you know, I'll do anything to keep you safe. And as long as you're happy…well, then I'm happy." Lee said.

Clementine looked up at Lee and leaned back onto him again, snuggling herself into a comfortable position. "I…" Clem yawned. "I…"

"You what, honey?" Lee asked. After hearing no response for several seconds Lee looked down to see Clementine fast asleep, hugging his arm like a teddy bear. Lee smiled and leaned back in his seat with a small and soft laugh.

"So what happened out there?" Christa asked, quietly.

"This creepy motherfucker, got Clem to tell him everything. A while back, me and my group stole some supplies from his car. Like the hoodie she's wearing. We were starving, we had to do it. No idea it was him." Lee said.

"It's alright. I get it. Frankly I don't give a shit how tragic his life story is. He killed Ben, and Kenny, god knows who else. Almost got you bitten…several times." Christa said, annoyance heavily in her voice.

"We've been through so much together, I just…I don't know what that shit does to a kid. She's so innocent, you know?" Lee said, looking down at Clementine, who was still out like a light.

"Sweetest kid I've met before." Christa said. "I didn't know what I thought about you before…but if anyone was going to look after her then I don't think anyone who's seen what I've seen would choose any differently."

"Thanks." Lee said. "Alright. I'm going to get some sleep, if that's alright."

"Of course. You've been through loads. Besides I've been on my ass with this infected leg for days. Let me do something. Plus this car…oh this car…" Omid said, fondling the gear stick.

"Watch out, you'll make Christa jealous." Lee joked, shutting his eyes.

"Yeah right." Christa laughed.

"I forgot to say…" Lee said, before drowsily nodding off. "Congratulations."

Lee dropped his head backwards and quickly fell asleep.

Lee slowly opened his eyes to a blurry vision of Clementine curled up on the car seat, her head still on his knee, her thumb sat comfortably in her mouth. Lee looked around the car, Omid was still driving, and appearing as if he were to kiss the steering wheel of the car any second, and Christa was out cold, snoring slightly with every breath.

"Hey." Lee whispered.

"Jesus Christ!" Omid yelled, honking the horn slightly, beeping the first note of the small tune the horn made. Omid looked around, as the car slowly grinded to a halt.

"What?! What?" Christa said, slightly groggy. "What happened?"

"Sorry." Lee said, beginning to chuckle slightly.

"Oh, ha-ha." Omid said sarcastically.

Lee looked down at Clementine who was rolling around as she splayed herself across the car seats then back into the curled up position she was in.

"Aw, did we wake her up?" Christa asked.

"We're good." Lee said softly.

"Never do that again." Omid said, sternly as he began moving again.

"No promises." Lee said humorously.

Christa laughed and shook her head as she looked out the window, stopping her laughing immediately, as she held up her index finger to signal for the others to be quiet. "You guys hear that?" Christa asked.


	3. Hey Buddy

Lee listened closely, he could hear something, growling and snarling. It was faint, coming from behind him. "I don't hear anything." Omid said.

"Sh…" Lee said, holding his index finger up. Lee pressed his ear to the seat, the growling and snarling getting louder the closer he got to it. "Jesus Christ…Omid, did you check the trunk?"

"No, I set the alarm off when I got in this thing so I didn't hesitate to get out of there." Omid said.

"Stop the car." Lee said, nervously.

Omid hesitantly pulled the car over to the side. "Lee? What is it?" Clementine asked.

"It's okay, honey." Lee said, stepping out of the car.

The three walked out of the car with him, Clementine hugging up to Lee's side nervously. "Omid, just stay over there with Clementine for a second." Lee said, taking the keys out of the ignition. "Christa be ready to shoot whatever comes out of here."

"Gotcha." Christa said, grabbing her dented yet shiny handgun.

Omid walked a few meters away from the car with Clementine, still limping slightly.

Lee clicked the button to unlock the trunk and slowly moved his hand over to pull it open. He looked over to Christa and nodded before pulling the trunk open and moving back.

Christa stared down the notch in the handgun, waiting for the source of the growling to clamber out of the trunk. Nothing, just faint and high-pitched growling, louder now the trunk had been opened. Lee cautiously tip-toed over to the trunk, swatting away some flies that had been freed from the back of the car.

Lee looked down, covering his nose at the sight in front of him. "What is it?" Christa asked.

Lee held his hand behind him. "Don't come any closer." Lee said. He looked down in the trunk, there was a trail of small pieces of foil, starting with an empty sleeping pill packet. Leading over to a blood-covered baby carrier, sitting inside a tiny flailing, pale baby. Wearing nothing but a diaper, staring up at Lee with misty dead eyes, scratching the air in front of it.

"Why?" Christa asked nervously.

"I'll tell you later. You don't want to see this." Lee sighed. "We're…not driving anymore."

"What? Why?" Omid moaned.

"We're. Not. Driving." Lee grunted sternly. "Christa, get over to Omid, start walking."

"Alright…" Omid said, slightly confused.

"Sure…" Christa said, concerned, never seeing Lee like he was then. The three began walking reluctantly.

Lee looked around the trunk, spotting various scraps of paper and wrappings for food and drinks. Nothing useful, apart from a small red toolbox tucked into the side. He unclipped the lock on the box and pulled out a wrench. He looked over to the baby and lifted the wrench up above his head. "Hey, buddy. It's alright, I'm going to make you better. Gonna see your mommy and daddy now, huh?" Lee said, before hesitantly smashing the wrench down on to the baby's head, smashing it in completely.

"Lee?!" Clem cried, almost running over to Lee.

"It's okay, sweet pea. Don't come over here. I'm coming!" Lee said, closing the trunk of the car, loosely dropping his wrench to the side. Lee walked over to Omid and Christa, keeping his head bowed at his feet.

"Are you okay?" Clem asked, wrapped her arms around him.

"Yeah. Yeah honey I'm fine." Lee said, wiping his eyes. "We need to keep moving, we weren't as quiet as we could be."

"Oh…okay." Clementine said, walking next to Lee sadly.

Christa held back and walked next to Lee after whispering to Omid inaudible commands. "Hey, Clem. I spy with my little eye, something the colour…green." Omid said.

Clem smiled and walked up next to Omid to start a game of eye spy.

"What was it?" Christa asked.

"Nothing." Lee said.

"No it wasn't. I've…never seen you this sad before." Christa said, sincerely.

"Keep it down." Lee whispered. "Clem's depending on knowing we're calm."

"But you ARE sad." Christa said.

"…It was a baby." Lee gulped.

Christa froze in place for a second before catching up with Lee. "A baby?" Christa asked.

"Yeah…it was so small." Lee said.

"It's not much like you to get so sad about this." Christa said. "I…I guess this is pretty intense stuff."

"I met Clem at the start of this, in her treehouse. She was hiding from walkers up there. When I got to Savannah there was that kid in the attic. It kept me thinking of how that could have been her." Lee said, staring up at Clem and Omid carrying on with their game, looking around for things to 'spy.' "It think the parents…I think they gave it sleeping pills."

"…Huh?" Christa asked.

"There was a pack of pills in the trunk and the foil from it was leading to him." Lee sighed.

"Fuck…and you…you put it down?" Christa asked.

Lee nodded sadly and carried held behind the rest of the group, walking alone hanging behind the rest. Thinking back to what had got him there.

How he was a convicted killer turned guardian. How everything would be okay if they had just turned away from Savannah. He had only just managed to stop the walker by the radio, which was rummaging around outside the mansion. If he hadn't had the handgun with him he would have been bitten and killed. As far as Lee knew, Christa, him, Omid and Clem were the only ones left of the group.

"Lee?" Lee looked down to his side to see Clem gently tugging on his hand. Lee crouched down to Clem's height pulling her into a tight hug. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, honey. Come on, let's keep walking. We'll try and find somewhere to sleep before it gets dark." Lee said.

"Okay." Clementine smiled.

 **So, I think this started out really depressing and in a way pretty cool and intense. But then towards the end I got a bit tired and I'm just not happy with the ending. However after so many ideas for this chapter being turned down I didn't want to keep you guys waiting.**

 **Next chapter will be good, promise :P**


	4. Crescent Camp

**I'm back for the summer, bitches…sorry, that was a bit harsh, but regardless, let's continue with the story after what has been an incredibly long break from writing.**

Lee smacked the last peg into the ground, finally setting up his and Clem's tent. He wiped the sweat from his brow and continued onto his next job. He collected a few rocks and pebbles from around him and set them up in a circle, ripping handfuls of grass from within the circle. He dusted his hands off and stood up, looking over to Christa. She was scavenging through the maze of broken-down cars surrounding the crescent shaped opening next to the long country road, on the other side, was a large several acre forest.

It was a perfect spot to camp out in, as it had clearly been used before, as there were three huge logs to be used as seats in a circle in the center of the crescent and various burn marks as well as skids and dents in the grass, faded but noticeable. Whether it had been used before the apocalypse or not what was left of the group hardly cared, they had been walking for hours prior and just wanted to eat and go to sleep.

"Any luck?" Lee asked.

"Found a few cans of food," Christa said, holding up a couple of cans in her hands. "Wait a minute…" Christa said, looking through into a high-class silver car. She reached her hand through an open window and pulled out a plastic bag with the 'Save-Lots' logo written across it.

"Anything worth taking?" Lee asked.

Christa walked back over to the camp. She passed the bag over to Lee with a smile. Lee peeked inside, there were five cans of beans and soup inside as well as a few cans of soda and a candy bar. "Well, we've got dinner for tonight," Christa said.

"Looks like it," Lee said, setting the bag of food and the other cans Christa had picked up by the fire pit Lee had constructed. Lee heard rustling leaves and twigs snapping coming from the forest. Lee quickly took the pistol from the back of his pants. It was out of ammo, but only he knew that. "Whoever's there, just turn around and turn back."

"Okay, I'll just build my own fire." Omid joked, walking into the crescent camp holding a pile of logs. Clementine followed him closely holding a few twigs and dead leaves.

"Finally, you were making me nervous," Lee said, hugging Clementine to his side.

Clem looked up to him with a smile and cuddled into him. "We were playing eye-spy." Clementine giggled.

"Yeah, it's a very distracting game," Omid said, taking the leaves and twigs off of Clementine to build up a fire. "So, are we going hungry tonight, or…?"

"The opposite actually," Christa said, passing Omid the plastic bag.

"Oh…wow…" Omid said, impressed. "Got to love Save-Lots."

After a half hour of building a fire and cooking the canned food Christa had found the group sat with a smile by the fire. Lee cuddled up with Clementine, leaning on one of the logs around the campfire, sharing a can of beans with her. "Alright, alright, I got one. Christa, remember that time we both thought there was a burglar in the house?" Omid laughed.

"Yeah, I remember…" Christa said, with a small, embarrassed laugh.

"Alright, so, I was home alone, and I heard a noise downstairs, I completely froze, then I grabbed this baseball bat I kept in my room and crept down into the living room. The step creaked on the way down but I didn't think the burglar heard it…so I held the baseball bat above my head and ran into the kitchen, there was nobody there. I went back into the hallway where the stairs were and almost smacked this burglar around the head." Omid laughed.

"Except it wasn't the burglar, it was me. I thought I was home alone and I heard a creaking noise by the stairs, so I went check it out, I almost smacked Omid around the head with a fly swatter." Christa laughed, putting her palm on her forehead.

Lee and Clem laughed, Clementine's laugh turning into a yawn. "Tired, huh?" Lee asked

"A little." Clem giggled.

"Me too, we'll leave the couple to do whatever they do. Let's go to sleep, hon'." Lee said, taking himself and Clem into the tent he had set up. He fell back onto the floor of the tent, padded slightly because of the grass, easy enough to get to sleep, as tired as he was. He and Clem quickly fell asleep.

Lee fidgeted uncomfortably all night, as he was having a terrible nightmare, about the chilling sight in the back of the car, the baby, the thought had been resting in the back of his head since it had happened. He awoke in the middle of the night. He smiled, noticing Clementine sleeping next to him, soundly. The camp was completely silent, a few crickets chirping and the wind rustling through the leaves. "Psst, hey, anyone here?" A deep voice whispered.

Lee's eyes widened, he slowly and quietly unzipped his tent and took out his pistol. He took a peek outside. There were three men: a young red-headed man in a deep green t-shirt and black cargo pants, carrying a large matte black machine gun. The other was a tall well-built bald man wearing a large Kevlar vest over a set of military fatigues, carrying a large pistol in his hands. The last was an older dark-skinned man, wearing a sleeveless gray shirt under a black leather jacket, he wore forest camouflage cargo pants and a pair of dog tags around his neck, carrying a combat knife, backward in his hands. "Hello?" The bald man said, quietly.

"Yo, anyone here?" The younger man asked, wandering closely to the door of Lee's tent. He took this as his chance, he burst out of the tent, holding his pistol up to the young man's neck.


	5. I Spy

"Sir, sir…please, just let go." The darker skinned man said.

"Get off me, man!" Lee's hostage growled, struggling to break free, to no avail.

"Hold still, asshole. What do you guys want?" Lee grunted, poking the pistol further into the red headed boy's neck.

Lee looked past the two men to see Christa and Omid climb out of their tent and grab their guns, Christa grabbed a pistol and Omid had the rifle Lee had looted from the woman in the field several hours ago.

The two men turned around, keeping their weapons lowered, desperately trying to show the group that they were friendly. The darker skinned man turned back to Lee. "Friend, we don't want to hurt you." The man held his gun in one hand and moved his other hand to his neck, lifting up his dog tags. "The world may have ended, but I stand by my oath. I'm willing to talk, but you need to let go of my friend."

Lee huffed and, despite his better judgment, sheathed his pistol and shoved the boy back to his friends.

"Lee…?" Clementine said, groggily.

Lee looked next to him to see Clementine, rubbing her eyes, standing outside the tent.

Lee hugged Clem to his side and looked at the army men. "Don't make me regret letting him go," Lee said.

"We won't. I'm Captain Joshua Reed. This is Lieutenant Will Jackson…" Joshua signaled to the bald man. "The kid's Private Allen Wayne."

Allen huffed, straightening and dusting off his shirt, not saying anything, just staring at Lee moodily.

"Lose the attitude, soldier," Will ordered.

"Yes, sir," Allen said, half-heartedly.

"I don't care. I want you and your friends to turn around and leave us be." Lee commanded.

"Alright…alright, that's fine. We're going to turn around and go…okay?" Joshua said, moving his hand to the barrel of his gun, carrying it by his side as he and his friends retreated into his forest.

After a minute of watching them retreat into the forest, Lee exhaled deeply, losing his strong and tall posture he was wearing while talking with them. Lee instantly turned to Clementine and picked her up, hugging her closely to him. "You okay, baby?" Lee asked.

"Mhm," Clementine mumbled, hugging Lee back.

"You two alright?" Lee asked, looking at Omid and Christa.

"Yeah, we're fine. You handled that well." Omid said, with a surprised smile.

"Thanks," Lee said, looking past the forest the men had retreated into. A large orange glow highlighted the forest. The sun was rising above the woods and slowly lighting up the night. "Well, sun's coming up, I think we should start moving."

Lee put Clem back down on her own feet and began to rip up the tent pegs. After ten minutes the four had taken down the camp and taken the remaining supplies they had and began walking up the road, passing several wrecked and broken down cars, checking a couple as they passed them, not finding anything of interest except a pair of binoculars and a small flip knife.

Lee walked slowly and tiredly. Clementine held his hand, sticking close to him. "Hey, Clementine…I believe we have unfinished business." Omid said, jokingly. "I spy…with my little eye something the color...hmm…orange."

"The sunrise," Christa said, confidently.

"See, this is why I play with Clem, you're too good!" Omid said.

"Alright, I spy with my little eye something the color gray," Christa said.

"Omid's hood?" Clementine guessed

"Nu-uh…" Christa said.

"Hmm…that cloud?" Clementine asked, pointing to a large rain cloud in the distance behind them.

"Nope…" Christa said.

Lee picked Clem up and whispered in her ear before setting her back down.

Clem smiled at Lee then looked over to Christa. "The road?" Clem asked.

"That's right," Christa said.

"Lee! Your turn!" Clementine said, enthusiastically, excited by the group wide game of I Spy.

"Alright…alright…uh…I spy with my little eye…something the color…black…" Lee said.

"You?" Omid laughed. He kept laughing, finding his joke extremely amusing. He slowly and awkwardly began to stop laughing, before scratching the back of his head.

"Your hair?" Clementine guessed, breaking the awkward silence.

"Close enough, it was your hair," Lee said.

"I don't like my hair." Clementine huffed.

"It looks cute," Omid said.

"I'll agree with that," Christa said.

"I'm offended," Lee said, obviously joking. "You don't like my work."

"No, I didn't say…I just…oh…" Clementine giggled, getting the joke late.

"Hold up," Lee said, gazing into the distance.

"Here," Omid said, passing him the binoculars.

Lee peered through the binoculars and spotted a small shopping village up ahead the way the road was following. He looked closely at a few of the shop signs. 'Jenna's Dry Cleaning.' Another one was an old antique shop called 'Joe's Antiques' and a small clothes shop, Lee recognized it from a large chain of other clothes stores from around the country. "Looks useful," Lee said, handing the binoculars to Christa for her to look.

"I spot a bunch of walkers by the parking lot, not a lot, though..." Christa said, passing the binoculars to Omid. He looked through them and tucked them into the Save-Lots plastic bag.

"Yeah, I count four…five…six," Omid said. "Worth a shot?"

"I'd say so," Lee said.

"What should I do?" Clementine asked.

"Stay close to Christa and Omid. You three are going to cover me, I'm going in with the pocket knife. And of them sneak up on me, you know what to do. But only as a last resort." Lee said.

"Alright…if you're sure. It sounds like a plan." Christa said.

Lee smiled at Clem at gently laid his hand on her shoulder reassuringly. "Let's move up," Lee said.

 **If you think I wasted those army guys…I'ma just say this: Believe me, I didn't waste 'em ;)**


	6. Shopping Village

Lee stuck the last zombie with his pocket knife, clearing the parking lot. "This place seems a little too quiet…" Christa whispered.

"Yeah…keep your guard up." Lee said, moving from the almost empty parking lot over to the nearest store. It was a small store, with two wall-sized windows either side of a small black door. The sign above the door wrote in a classy font 'Joe's Antiques'. "Worth a look, I suppose." Lee thought to himself. He opened the door and stepped through, there was a small jingle of a bell as he opened the door. Lee quickly looked up and grabbed the bell, silencing it.

Lee looked around. The place was filled with old grandfather clocks, dusty musical instruments, all different kinds of faded jewellery, and different antiques of no use to Lee. He looked around by the cashier desk in the corner of the store. Lee noticed an old golden pocket watch in a glass booth next to some other old rings and necklaces. It was still ticking. He decided he liked the look of it and lifted the glass case. He picked up the watch and checked the time. It was nearing five in the after-noon. He smiled and put it in his pocket. "DIY shop's been raided, found this hatchet tucked away though. Anything here?" Omid asked, slightly out of breath as he walked into the antique's shop.

"Just this watch. Thought I'd grab it. My dad had one like it I think." Lee said, lifting the chain up from his pocket.

"Sweet." Omid said.

Lee heard a growling from next to him, coming from a door near to the cashier desk. "Here, give me the hatchet." Lee said. Omid passed him the hatchet and Lee gave Omid the flip knife in return. Lee placed his hand on the old stained metal doorknob and pushed the door open slowly. He peaked through the crack in the doorway and spotted an old walker standing there with its eyes fixated on nothing, just swaying side to side slowly.

Lee readied the hatchet and burst through the door, swiftly landing the hatchet in the walker's head. The walker toppled to the floor. Lee looked at it, it was an old man with a few specks of white hair on its head, wearing a bloody and messy shirt under a tired and faded vest. There were broken glasses hanging round his neck on a chain. "Must've been the owner of the store, poor bastard." Lee said.

"Hey, there's a safe over here." Omid said, crouched down in front of a secure black safe with a large electronic dial on the front of it. "Might have something useful inside."

Lee squatted in front of it and inspected the electronic lock. He twisted his head around the room and spotted a small post-it note on a notice board on the opposite side of the room with a four-digit number on it. He walked over to it and ripped it off the notice board. "1-9-5-5." Lee read aloud.

Omid tapped the number in and the safe beeped before automatically opening. Inside was a silver shining revolver, and a few stacks of money. Omid took out the revolver and handed it to Lee. "Sick." Omid said.

Lee inspected it, checking the ammo, a full round. He tucked it into the back of his pants. "Clem can keep my gun, I guess." Lee said, carrying on outside of the store.

Omid and Lee crept across to the next store that Christa and Clementine were already inside. It was a smaller version of a large chain of clothing stores that Lee recognised. He walked in and, to his surprise, whilst a lot of the shelves and hangers were empty, many were completely fine and untouched. Lee looked around the store, his heart began to race as he couldn't find Clementine or Christa. "Clem?" Lee whispered, not wanting to be too loud, lest he attract walkers.

"Just in here." Christa said coming from a girl's dressing room. Not long after Christa came out from the dressing rooms holding Clem's hand. She had a new pink hoodie on, a slightly shorter skirt, just in case a walker could get a hold of it and a new pair of tights on, but still the same old hat, of course.

"You look great, sweet pea." Lee said.

"Thanks, Christa helped me choose it." Clementine said, looking at herself in a nearby mirror.

"C'mon, Lee we need to get you into a new outfit." Christa said. She looked around on a few shelves.

Lee rolled his eyes and chose any old thing that fit him that was nearby. He took the clothes and wandered into the dressing rooms. After he had gotten dressed he looked in the mirror in his dressing cubicle. He was wearing a new pair of jeans, these ones less ripped up and scraped, a red t-shirt under a plaid buttoned up shirt and a brown jacket. His face had little splotches of dirt on it, his hair was messy and had grown since last time he saw it and he had extremely noticeable bags under his eyes. He shrugged this off, not blaming himself for this considering everything that had been going on. Lee left back into the main store.

Clementine was waiting there on her own, looking at other jackets for kids her age. Lee walked over to her and picked her up, holding her close to him. "Hey, sweet pea. You okay?" Lee asked. Clementine gave a bright smile, something that Lee hadn't seen since they had left Savannah.

"Uh-huh." Clementine said, with her bright smile that only she could do.

"Great. How are you feeling? Just thought I'd check in after everything that's happened. We just can't seemed to get a break, huh?" Lee said.

"I'm okay. We just need some time, that's what Christa told me." Clementine said.

"That's right. We just need to find a new vehicle and get moving again." Lee said.

"Why did we have to leave the car?" Clementine asked.

The question hit Lee like a brick, he had almost completely forgotten that. "Look…it's…there was just something in the trunk of the car, and I didn't want you to know about…it was really sad, that's all." Lee said, his voice getting slightly choked up by the thought of it.

"Hey kids." Omid said, jokingly. He and Christa both had a new outfit on, as well.

"You guys ready to get moving again?" Christa asked.

After they had agreed, the four left the clothes shop. It was the closest store that went back on to the highway, the group simply jumped the small wooden fence and carried on back up the long road, back to wandering aimlessly.


	7. I Love You

Clem, Lee, Christa and Omid sat around a small fire, in a large open field. They had been at this camp for a week, one of them kept a lookout each night, but so far had no trouble with walkers or invaders. Clementine sat next to Lee picking grass out of the ground, with a smile on her face. Lee looked at her with a small chuckle, reminding him of when he was younger, he and his friends would always rip the grass out of the ground and throw it at each other, thinking it was the funniest thing ever until the teacher would yell at him.

He picked his pocket watch out from his jeans and looked at the time, it was nine in the evening. The sky was already dark, the moon and stars barely even visible through the thick clouds. "Alright guys, we really need to come up with a plan. We can't just keep walking around, hoping to look for a vehicle, we need to come up with a place, a safe place where we can settle." Christa said.

"Alright, let's take a look. I snatched this map from the shopping village." Omid said, picking a small creased booklet from a plastic bag full of various items, food, and water. He opened it and sat closer to Christa. "What do you guys think?"

"Well, where would the most logical place to go?" Lee said, going through different places in the US.

"Mexico?" Omid asked. "It's where criminals go after they scammed someone."

"I don't know, sounds hot. I don't do heat, besides we don't have enough water as it is. We'd get dehydrated." Christa said.

"We could go west," Lee mentioned. "Of course, there's all the earthquakes…maybe not."

"What about Canada?" Clementine asked, brushing off her hands from the grass and dirt.

Lee, Omid, and Christa looked at each other for a second, all getting the same idea. Plenty of snow and ice, meaning a large supply of water, a much smaller population compared to the U.S, colder climate, meaning slower walkers.

Lee ruffled the back of Clem's hair. "That's a great idea, sweetheart!" Lee said.

"Good girl, Clem," Christa said, inspecting the map.

"What's the safest way to get there?" Omid asked.

"I suppose…uh…well we're here…" Christa said, pointing at the highway they'd been following just north of Savannah. She traced her finger up the highway, running into various obstacles the group would find using the route she was mentally following. She closed her eyes and sighed, giving in to the inevitable safe route. "The safest way has to be back the way we came…"

"What?!" Lee gasped.

"Huh?" Clem reacted.

"You're kidding me…" Omid groaned.

"We go back passed Savannah, where we left the train and back on the main highway, through Macon than go around Atlanta…" Christa said, putting emphasis on the word 'around'. "Then through Tennessee, Missouri, and Illinois, Iowa, Dakota…after that we should end up in Manitoba…"

"That doesn't sound like an easy trip..." Lee said.

"Worth a shot. We need to try and go as far as possible, at least. We may even find a safe place to stay on the way." Christa said.

Lee looked around, with a semi-confident smile. He thought about it for a minute, then nodded to himself. "Alright. It sounds like a plan. If it means keeping you all safe. I'll do anything." Lee said, hugging Clementine towards him.

"I say we wait here for another week or so and get moving again. It'll be a long road back through to Macon. I'm going to bed." Christa said.

Omid followed her closely as the two clambered into their tent. It was Lee's watch that night, so he stayed up.

Lee sat by the fire warming himself by it. Clementine, like she did the two other nights Lee was on guard, snuggled up to him by the fire until she began to fall asleep. Lee put his arm around her waist and Clem lay her head on his shoulder.

Lee adored these kind of moments with Clementine. He loved the chances he got with Clementine. The past two times Lee had guarded the camp had both gone exactly the same, she'd cuddle up by the fire and almost fall asleep. This time was no different as Clementine yawned, trying to keep her head up. "It's alright, baby you go to bed, I'll be right out here if you need me," Lee said.

Clementine smiled, giving Lee a final hug before putting her pink hoodie on over her new little summer dress and went back into her and Lee's tent.

Lee pulled out his revolver and laid it on the ground beside him, warming his hands by the fire. He kept checking back to his pocket watch every ten minutes until an hour had passed. He heard a zip from behind him. He shot his head backward and saw Clem stumbling out of the tent with tears pouring down her face.

Lee threw himself off the ground and walked quickly over to Clementine, picking her up and hugging her. "What's wrong, baby girl?" Lee asked.

"I…I…I miss them…everyone." Clementine whimpered, sobbing into Lee's shoulder. Lee closed his eyes and rubbed Clem's back, in an effort to comfort the crying child. "I…I wanted to tell you but I was afraid I'd get in the way." Clementine cried.

Lee sat down again by the fire, still cradling Clementine in his arms. He was somewhat relieved by this, glad Clementine was finally opening up to him after she had been quiet and shy towards everyone. Now Lee knew why. "Ssh, don't cry, sweetheart," Lee said, placing the tiny kid in his lap. "I don't want you to keep anything from me. When you need me I'm here." Lee said.

Clementine was silent, only making a noise to sniff under shaky and sad breaths. "I'm sorry…" Clementine said. "I know I need to be tough. But…Ben…Duck…Kenny…Katjaa…Carley…Lily…everyone…"

"I know…I know…I miss them too, y'know? They were our family. Now it's just us left and I'm not going to let my family down. I'm going to keep you safe, sweetheart. I…I love you." Lee said.

Clementine smiled to herself. She had wanted to hear Lee say that since they left Savannah. "I love you too…" Clementine said.

 **Hey! Man, that was cute…I hate saying that about my own work but AWWWWWWWWWW.**

 **So, I wanted to bring up a couple things, one I was thinking of bringing back my story Glenn and Clementine, so I can sort of alternate stories that I write every day or two. (Which reminds me, make sure to check back every day for a new chapter, I write often ;3) So, let me know if that's something you want to read and if I should bring it back :D**

 **Make sure to leave a review! I love reading them and they make my day!**


	8. Mason

**Sorry, this one took so long, I've been trying to make it, but not knowing how to get the group into this situation.**

The group had been walking for two days and had just passed the entrance to Savannah, keeping as far away as they could from the city without getting lost. They were back on familiar ground after they found the train tracks they had come to the city by. The four carried on, keeping directly next to the train tracks.

"So, how do you spell…train?" Lee asked.

"T-r-a-i-n…?" Clementine asked, pausing with each letter, holding Lee's hands as she attempted to balance on the steel of the tracks.

"That's right, good job, Clementine!" Lee said. He had been teaching her Maths and English as they walked, trying to keep her entertained and educated.

Clem looked around, noticing another pair of tracks running parallel to the ones she was standing on. "What are those tracks for?" Clementine asked.

"Those ones take trains the other way round," Omid said, walking up next to Clem with the map. He pointed at a yellow line on the map tracing all the way from where they were standing looping round the outside of Savannah and back again. "See, this goes around Savannah so they can drop off whatever they're carrying then back around, so the trains would end up there."

Christa pretended to yawn, covering her mouth jokingly.

"Oh, you know you love it when I talk about trains," Omid said.

"I do…?" Christa giggled.

"Alright, what about Math…what's ten plus sixteen?" Lee asked.

Clementine took her spare hand that she wasn't keeping her balance with and counted on her fingers. "Twenty…five…? No…six!" Clementine said, happily.

"That's right!" Christa smiled.

"Good job, sweetie," Omid said.

"Alright, what about…" Lee paused, thinking he heard something coming from the surrounding forest.

"I hear it too…" Christa whispered.

Lee listened closely, it was a bouncy happy whistle. Lee took out his revolver and held it close to him. Clem took Lee's old pistol from Omid's backpack he had gotten from the shopping village. Christa took her large silver pistol from her pants and held it up towards the forest where the whistling was coming from. Omid did the same with his rifle.

The whistling grew louder and louder until a young man emerged from the forest, rustling the leaves, carelessly. He paused in front of the four pointing guns at him. The boy was tall and skinny, with some small muscle showing through a red t-shirt under a black hoodie, with a brown leather pistol holster wrapped around the shirt, inside was a military-grade pistol shining under the sun. He was also wearing a pair of regular-fitted black jeans. He was also wearing white and red running shoes on his feet. The young man had blonde messy hair, and a face with wide blue eyes, slim cheekbones, and a kind smile.

He stood awkwardly in front of them, with one hand raised in a half-hearted wave. "Hey…uhm…hi…" The man said.

Lee kept his revolver aimed at him, not trusting the boy at all.

"Hi." Clementine said, lowering her pistol slightly, still keeping it aimed at him, following the adults' example. The boy smiled and waved at Clementine, with a sweet smile.

"Who are you?" Lee interrogated.

"My name's…uh…Jeffery…uh…you can call me…Jeff…" The boy said.

"Get the story straight, asshole," Christa growled.

The boy dropped his arms by his side. "My name's Mason." He sighed, putting his hand up in a surrender.

"You got a group, Mason?" Omid asked, lowering his voice, trying to sound tough.

"I'd suggest not taking me as a prisoner to them. Our leader may have this code of ethics bull', but this cancels it out." Mason said. "I'm not threatening you, I'm warning you."

Lee looked over to Christa and Omid and shrugged his shoulders. He wasn't sure what to do with the boy, he could never shoot him if he took him back to his group they may kill him, Clem Omid and Christa, but if he let him go his group could chase Lee and the others down.

"Although…" Mason began. "I could take you back to them. I noticed you've got a kid with you. You guys don't look too good either, I wouldn't exactly feel right leaving you here. But it all depends on something…"

"On what?" Lee asked, slowly lowering the revolver.

"Do you know how to operate a train? Any of you?" Mason asked.

Lee looked over to Omid and Christa with a smile. "Well…Mason, as a matter of fact, I do." Lee said.

"Okay…then we could possibly have a deal. First I need you to stop pointing your weapons at me. I'll take you to the group." Mason said.

Lee nodded at the group and tucked the revolver back in his pants. Mason smiled as the rest of the group did the same and put their weapons away.

"I didn't catch your names by the way." Mason started as he began to lead the group down the tracks, around a loose, but long corner.

"I'm Lee." He said. "This is Omid and Christa."

"It's great to meet you all," Mason said, with a polite smile. "And who's the little princess?"

Clementine giggled and shyly stood behind Lee. "This is Clementine," Lee said.

"Nice to meet you, Clementine," Mason said. "Okay, they're just around this corner."

Lee held the group behind a couple of feet, just in case. The group distantly followed Mason as he walked around the corner. Lee and the others followed him as a large metal train came into sight. The locomotive. Aside from the location just as Lee had left it, the singular carriage and the main train covered in stains and rust, just like before.

"There you are! What are you thinking?! We were worried about…you…" A man said, walking swiftly over to Mason as he rubbed the back of his head guiltily.

The man stopped in front of Mason. He looked past him and with his mouth open and his finger pointing at them. "…You?" He asked.

"You?" Lee asked. Lee recognized the man after some searching in his memories. It was Captain Joshua Reed, the leader of the men that had wandered into Crescent Camp.

"Him?" Mason asked, not knowing what Joshua was talking about.

"He was the man who put the knife to Allen's throat," Joshua said.

"Oh…Him…" Mason sighed.

 **Thanks for reading, and thanks for the continued support! :D Make sure to leave me a review and let me know what you think! I love reading them :D**


	9. The New Group

"The fuck is he doing here?!" Private Allen yelled, approaching the group with fast heavy footsteps.

"Private! I ain't warning you again!" Lieutenant Will Jackson scolded, following him closely.

"Lieutenant, leave this to me." Joshua said, holding his hand up to him.

"Yes, sir." William said.

"Allen, stand in front of…" Joshua paused, having not known Lee's name.

"Lee, Lee Everett." He said.

Allen stood in front of Lee with an irritated scowl on his face. "I want you to men to make amends. Settle this like gentlemen, not like boys." The Captain said.

"I'm sorry. I was just trying to keep my people safe." Lee said.

"I'm sorry too. I was just following orders." Allen sighed.

"…Right, who's hungry? I'm hungry." Mason said, popping up between the two, gesturing for the group to follow him to the locomotive. The group followed him up to the closed doors of the locomotive. He tapped on the train rhythmically, as some kind of secret knock.

The train doors slowly slid open, pushed by a young girl shoving it along with a grunt. The girl jumped down and immediately smacked Mason over the head. "What is wrong with you?! Just disappearing like that!" The girl moaned before dropping her hands to her side and jumping into him, hugging him tightly.

The girl was short with a regular body. She had pretty features, smooth brown hair tied up in a short ponytail and sweet amber eyes. She was wearing a pair of jeans and canvas shoes. She was also wearing a black t-shirt with a plaid buttoned-up shirt over it.

"Alright…alright, I'm sorry. But, I made some new friends. And guys, they said they could get this train moving!" Mason said, excitedly.

"Sorry, about that…" The girl said, rubbing the back of her neck. "I'm Emily."

"We'll do introductions later…is this true?" Joshua asked.

"Yes. This was our train. It belonged to a man named Chuck. We lost him when we went into the city." Lee explained.

"You sure? We nabbed it off of a few guys with hoodies and bandanas, had some pretty nasty firepower." Private Allen said. "They were stationed here, we tried to approach them but they shot as soon as they saw us. We lost a man for it."

"They must've been the ones who moved it. It was just outside the city before. We came back it was gone." Lee said.

"Then they would've had to go through and around the city to get it to this point." Omid said.

"Well, David will be glad to hear this. Follow me." Joshua said, stepping up to the train carriage.

"It's okay, we'll take good care of your friends." Mason said.

"It's cool, Lee you go ahead. We're safe with Clint Eastwood over here guarding us." Omid said, panting Clementine's head.

"Haha, we'll keep that in mind." Emily laughed.

"He's not joking. She shoots better than me. Don't try anything." Lee said with a small smirk, laying his hand on Mason's shoulder.

Lee followed Joshua through the carriage and over the bridge to the main train. "So, why don't you trust us Lee?" Josh asked, knocking on the door to the controls of the train.

"We went into the city. That's why I don't trust anyone anymore." Lee said.

The door was opened by an elderly gentleman with dark skin, holding a walking stick with a golden ball as a hilt. He was tall, but slumped over his cane, he had a kind smile on his face as he looked to Lee. He was wearing an old blue shirt and slacks being held up by a pair of suspenders. He wore a shining necklace, with a cross on it. He held up his hand to Lee. "Hello, sir. It's nice to meet you." He said.

Lee paused for a second, taken back by the situation. He had never met anyone with his manners since the apocalypse started. He shook the man's hand politely. "Hi. My name's Lee." He said.

"I'm David, it's fantastic to meet someone with your manners." The old man said.

"Likewise." Lee said.

"David, Lee here knows how to control the train, in fact it belonged to his friend." Joshua said. "The man, is sadly no longer with us, but Lee knows how to get the train moving."

"God rest his soul." David said, holding his necklace. "I'm sorry for your loss, Lee. Now, as for the train, I'm afraid I've switched a few of the controls around, trying to get this thing moving, I hope it won't be too much trouble for you."

Lee smiled and took a look at the control panel. He stared at it closely, trying to remember the combination the switches went in. He flicked a few switches around as he remembered them. The train started making a chugging noise, slowly beginning to move again. Lee's eyes widened as he quickly turned around through a lever around, the train clicked to a halt again.

"I'll be dammed…" Joshua laughed. "Oh, sorry Father David."

"It's no problem, Captain." David said. "Just let me know when you want to get going and I'll start this up. "Thank you for your help, Lee."

Lee smiled at David and walked back over to the main carriage with Joshua, stopped in his tracks by Clementine standing in front of him, rubbing her arm, with a sigh. "I'll leave you two to talk, I'm going to make sure nobody was hurt when the train started moving." Joshua chuckled, walking into the carriage.

Lee crouched down in front of Clementine, pulling her into a hug. "I know this must be tough." Lee sighed. "I don't really like being back here either, but it's our best bet on getting moving."

"I know…just…don't go too far away from me, okay?" Clementine pleaded.

"I won't. What do you think of Emily and Mason? They been treating you okay?" Lee asked.

"Emily reminds me of Sandra, she's really nice. I like her." Clementine said. "Mason reminds me of the babysitter that came when Sandra couldn't come…and…he also reminds me of Ben…kinda."

Lee sighed and held Clem's hand with a smile. "It'll all be okay, Clem. I won't let anyone go ever again. This is our new group now. And I won't let these guys end up the same way." Lee said, looking Clementine in the eyes.

"Hello, Lee. Are you ready to…Oh, I'm sorry did I interrupt something?" David asked.

Lee turned around to David. "No, no, it's alright." Lee said with a polite smile, moving out the way for David to get through.

"Oh, hello, sweetheart." David said, crouching down to Clementine's height.

"Hi!" Clementine said sweetly.

"Oh, aren't you a little angel? My name's David." He said, with a small laugh and a smile.

"I'm Clementine." She said with a wide smile.

"And Lee's your father?" David asked.

"Nu-uh. He found me in my treehouse and took me with him." Clementine said, quickly.

Lee sighed with a small laugh. "It's not as bad as it sounds." Lee said.

"I'm sure it isn't." David laughed. I'm sure we'll all catch up soon enough, for now, I need to check if everyone's ready to get moving. It will take a large stress off of everyone's shoulders I'm certain."


	10. Pick A Card

Clementine sat with her legs dangling over the edge of the train. She hated the train, all she could picture was Duck lying in the arms of his mother as he slowly died from his walker bite, or Chuck telling her she was going to end up just like her dead friend, or Lee cutting her hair with the huge scissors. The thought of all the bad memories on the train almost made her sick. Her eyes began watering as she stared out the train, the different kinds of trees blurring as they sped across the train tracks.

She was brought out of her depressing thoughts when Mason sat next to her, cross-legged. "You look upset." Mason said. "Are you alright?"

"I'm okay." Clementine said, quickly drying her eyes.

"I know what'll cheer you up." Mason said. "Want to see a magic trick?"

Clementine gave a small smile. "Okay." She said.

Mason took a small white cardboard box from his pocket. He emptied out a hand of cards into his palm and spread it out like a fan before turning to Clem. "Alright, pick a card." Mason said. "Don't show me."

Clementine chose a card from the pack and looked at it was a smile. "Okay." Clementine said.

"Alright, pass it here." Mason said, taking the card off of Clem, still looking at the back of it. He held it up in front of Clem and covered it with his hand, before tearing it in half and throwing it behind him. "Alright, just going to shuffle the pack." Mason put the cards behind his back and shuffled the pile up. He brought the pack back in front of Clem with a smirk.

"What now?" Clem asked.

"What was the card?" Mason asked.

"The…third of clubs." Clementine said.

"Alright. Third of clubs…oh, y'know what I think that was the one I tore up. Here, let's try and make a new one with magic." Mason said, waving his hand over the pack of cards. He lifted up the first card on the pile and showed it to Clem. "Is this your card?"

Clem's eyes widened in excitement. "Wow! How'd you do that?" Clementine gasped.

"A good magician never reveals his secret." Mason said.

"I'll teach you how to do it later on." Emily laughed, sitting on the other side of Clementine.

Mason took a deep breath as he looked outside the train, nervously. "Alright, let's move back a little…please." He said, shuffling back and sitting back down in the centre of the train, where Omid and Christa were also sat.

Clementine giggled whilst Emily rolled her eyes, before joining him in the middle of the train carriage. "Everything okay in here?" Joshua asked, as he walked into the carriage.

"We're good." Mason said.

"Been impressing everyone with your card tricks I see." Josh laughed, noticing the pack of cards Mason was putting away back into his pocket.

"Hey, you love my card tricks." Mason said.

Clementine stood up and walked over to Joshua, shyly. "Excuse me...Mr…" Clementine said, quietly.

"Call me Joshua." He said with a smile, crouching down in front of Clementine.

"Is Lee okay?" She asked, noticing Lee had been in the front of the train for the last hour.

"He's fine, want me to get him back in here? It's getting a little crowded up there anyway." Joshua said.

"Is that okay?" Clementine asked, looking to her feet.

Joshua smiled kindly and pet Clem on the head before walking back over to the train.

After a few seconds Lee walked back through the carriage door, and picked Clementine up, hugging her close to him. "Joshua said you were missing me." Lee said.

Clementine didn't say another word, just hugged him back, with a happy smile. "I don't like it when you go away for too long." Clementine said.

"I know. But I need to make sure nobody breaks the train." Lee chuckled, sitting down in the circle of people in the centre of the train carriage, placing Clem down onto his lap.

"Is…what's his name, David that bad?" Christa asked.

"I trust him, I don't trust Allen and Will." Lee laughed. "I promise to spend some more time back here."

"You better believe Clem'll hold you by that." Omid said with a small laugh.

"I know she will. I'll be right back, I've got to go tell the guys I'm staying back here for a bit." Lee said, stroking Clem's cheek gently before walking out of the carriage again.

"C'mere, Clem. I'll teach you that magic trick." Mason said, gesturing to go into the nearest corner of the train.

"What happened to a good magician never reveals his secrets?" Emily asked.

"Well, you don't make the noise right." Mason bickered, jokingly.

"Meh, you don't make the noise right.' Listen to yourself." Emily laughed.

Mason chuckled and rolled his eyes, sitting down in front of Clementine, taking the cards back out. "Alright, so what you do is…"

Mason continued to teach Clementine the trick, how to make a tearing noise with your mouth, and pretend to shuffle them behind your back whilst picking the card you tossed behind your back, and the other steps to playing the trick, until he was cut off by the train being thrown into complete darkness.

"What the hell?!" Omid yelled in surprise.

"What happened?" Christa gasped.

Mason listened out for Clementine, who was beginning to sniffle and cry quietly nearby. He held his hand out and landed it on her shoulder, making her jump. "Ssh, it's okay. It's alright, I've got you." Mason said, pulling her towards him. "Everything's okay."

The light was soon shot instantly back on. "Is everybody okay back here?" Lee asked, as he ran back through the carriage door. "The train went through a tunnel."

Mason looked around the train as soon as his eyes got used to the light. He sat with Clementine hugging close to him, teary eyed and shaking.

 **So, nothing much happened this chapter. Just a little character development between Mason and Clemmy.**

 **If you're not done with Clem being cute, go check out my new story Baby Girl where Clem is a baby! Just updated it tonight!**

 **Make sure to leave a review and tell me what you think! I love reading them!**


	11. Catie

_Mason woke up with a long yawn. He looked at his alarm clock with tired eyes._ _It was six-thirty on a Monday. "Ugh." He moaned, standing up from his bed. He walked over to his closet and took out a t-shirt and a pair of jeans. After quickly slipping them on he took his backpack and swung it around his shoulder. He slowly poked his head through his little sister's bedroom door. "Morning, lucky." He said quietly as he stepped further into the girl's room._

" _Good morning." She yawned, sitting up in her pink and white bed. Mason's sister, Catie, only five years old, didn't have to go to school that day, 'some illness around the school that the kids needed to stay away from for a few days' Mason had been told._

" _Listen, I'm going out to school in a second, mommy and daddy are gonna be home in a bit. Are you going to be my brave little sister and stay home alone? They'll only be about ten minutes after I leave." Mason said, sitting on the edge of Catie's bed._

" _Mhm," Catie said, wrapping her arms around Mason's neck._

" _Okay, I'll leave you to get some more sleep, cuddle monster. Love you." Mason said, kissing Catie on the forehead._

" _Love you, too," Catie said, before dropping her head back down to the pillow._

 _Mason walked into the kitchen. He poured a glass of orange juice, after taking a sip he heard a knock at the door. He opened it, expecting his best friend Emily like it had been every morning before. He'd wake up, go to school with Em, meet Shaun on the way, and go to their first period. "Hey Em, I…" He said whilst he opened the door. Mason dropped the glass he was holding at the sight in front of him. Shaun was standing in the doorway, blood dripping down his mouth, pale as snow, before collapsing in front of Mason._

 _He crouched down, holding Shaun in his arms. "Shaun, what happened?!" Mason choked, holding the boy's head in his arms._

" _Get…out…of…town…" Shaun coughed, more blood spewing out of his lips._

" _What?! No! You need help!" Mason cried._

" _Mason?!" Catie shivered, standing distanced from him and Shaun._

" _Cate, sweetie, go call 9-1-1, okay?" Mason gulped, attempting to hold back tears._

 _Catie ran over to a wall phone in the kitchen, dialing the numbers she was instructed too._

" _Shaun, buddy, stay with me okay?" Mason said, wiping the blood from Shaun's lips._

" _No…I…can't…be careful…the…the creatures…' Shaun said, his eyes beginning to close._

" _Crea…Creatures? What? What creatures?!" Mason gasped. "What do you mean?!"_

" _Just…get out of town…take Catie…and…and Em…" Shaun said, between raspy breaths. "I love you…" He said before his hands loosened and his eyes closed._

 _Mason took a deep breath before completely breaking down, kissing Shaun on the head, holding his head as he mumbled for him to come back._

Emily cut Mason out of his thoughts as she sat down next to him. "You alright? This isn't like you, moping around." She asked.

"Catie. She was afraid of the dark too." Mason sighed.

"…I remember. I was at your house and there was a power cut, she freaked out and we had to watch those kids TV shows with her until she felt better." Emily said, smiling at the happy memories.

"I don't know why I'm feeling like this." Mason sighed. "I can't stop thinking about her."

"You miss having a little a sister," Emily said, laying her arm around Mason.

Mason looked over to Clementine who was sitting in Lee's lap as she spoke quietly to Omid and Christa.

"It's okay to miss people. I miss Shaun." Emily said.

"Me too. He gave the best hugs." Mason said with a small laugh.

"I know. Look, I'm going to go see what the guys are doing in the front of the train, just to see if we have any plans. Don't stay alone for too long, huh? You'll drive yourself crazy." Emily said.

"Thanks, Em," Mason said with a weak smile before Emily walked out the train carriage. Mason knew she was right, he shouldn't be alone with his thoughts for too long, so he stood up and joined Christa, Lee, Clem and Omid on the other side of the carriage.

"Hey, Mason," Lee said, moving along for Mason to sit down.

Mason sat down at his place, next to Lee and Clem. "Hey, guys. You alright, Clementine?" He asked.

"She's still a little shaken up. Thank you." Lee said.

"For what?" Mason asked, wearing a curious smile.

"You were there for her after we went through that tunnel," Lee said.

"No problem," Mason said, before hearing the sound of Emily sliding the carriage door open.

"Hey, guys, we're stopping for the night. You're going to want to hold onto something." Emily said, hanging onto the door frame.

The train suddenly thumped to a halt, making a piercing screech as the breaks activated. The rest of the group made their way through into the train. "Is everyone alright back here?" David asked as he wandered into the train carriage, followed by the three army men.

"We're fine, thank you," Christa said, politely.

"Wonderful. Oh, I forgot to mention, congratulations. Lee told me earlier." David said.

"Thank you, so much," Christa said with a smile.

"David was a military doctor before he became a pastor. He can help." Lee explained.

"Really? That's amazing!" Omid said.

"Thank you, Omid," David said. "Now, I believe we should start a campfire. It will get colder as the sun sets."

"Copy that. Me and the private will get something set up." Will said, jumping down, off the side of the train, followed by Private Allen. "Sit tight, for now, keep the doors closed. Who knows what we would've brought towards us with the sound."

"Yeah…about that," Mason said, sliding one of the side doors shut. "What happens if-

"Don't worry about it. We'll sort out a guard detail. Me and the boys'll take care of it tonight." Joshua said.

Mason felt something tug on the sleeve of his shirt. He looked down to see Clementine smiling up at him. Mason crouched down in front of her. "Hi, Clem. What's up?" Mason asked.

"I just wanted to say thanks," Clementine said, taking Mason's hand.

Mason smiled and ruffled the back of Clementine's hair, the only place her hat wasn't covering. "No, problem, Cat…uh…Clementine." Mason stumbled.

 **Hey! I just wanted to let you guys know I might no be updating my stories tommorow, first day back to school where I'm from, but never say never, it's just a maybe.**

 **Thanks for reading! Be sure to leave a review!**


	12. Going On A Walk

After setting up the campfire, Will and Allen called everyone out from the train.

The group sat down around a slowly spreading campfire. Lee smiled as he sat Clementine down on his lap, wrapping his arm around her front. "So, everyone holding up?" Will asked. "Ma'am, are you okay?"

"I'm fine thank you." She said. "Honestly, you all are making too much of a fuss, I'm two months in at most."

"You and the girl are the top priorities to protect," Joshua stated. "As stupid as this sounds, Clementine and that baby are the future."

"Nah, I get it. You're right." Omid said.

"Don't get used to me saying it, I try not to take myself that seriously." Joshua laughed.

"You and Omid should talk more." Christa giggled, rolling her eyes.

"Sorry about that, everybody," David said, walking out from the train, stamping his cane down on the floor with every step, he climbed down from the train and sat next to Joshua by the campfire. "How is everybody? Mason, you seem quiet."

"He's a little…uh…fragile…at the moment," Emily said, patting Mason on the back.

"I'm fine, just a little tired," Mason said.

"I'll admit, the train doesn't seem like the most comfortable thing to sleep in," Will said.

"Well, I'm sure sleeping in that thing should be interesting," Lee said.

"Didn't spend long in it before you got to the city?" Allen asked.

"Spent a good few hours on that thing before we stopped off, but not a night," Lee said.

"What about you, Clementine? Are you okay?" David asked.

"I'm okay," Clementine said with her usual happy smile.

"You've got to be bored, right?" Joshua said. "I remember I couldn't stand more than a minute at your age without having anything to do."

"I miss my coloring book, I guess. But I'm okay." Clementine said.

"Well, next stop, when we go searching for supplies. We'll see if we can find you anything." Lee said.

"We sure will. Right, let's get something to eat, hm? I'm afraid the menu isn't too exciting. We managed to nab some MREs from our base before we ran." Joshua said, walking over to the train.

"Base?" Christa asked.

"We all came from a small army base. At the start of everything, we let civilians in. But…we had to shut the gates to the public after an infected got in and took a bite out of a man." Will explained.

"All of you? What were you all doing there?" Omid asked.

"Well, I was stationed there with the Private. Josh was sent to the area after the infection started to get out of hand." Will said.

"I was visiting there, giving a lecture to a few cadets when things got completely out of hand." David sighed.

"What about Emily and Mason?" Clementine asked.

Joshua jumped down from the train carrying a handful of brown packets. He lay them down in front of the campfire and took his seat. "Well, about two days after these two turned up to the gates, Mason was carrying this-

"Allen," Mason said, looking at Private Allen sternly. "She doesn't need to know about that."

"About what?" Clementine asked.

"Nothing, sweetheart. It's alright." Mason said, making the widest smile he could muster.

"Look, we're all hungry, here," Joshua said, handing out the MRE packs around the group. "Let's eat."

"What is it?" Clementine asked.

"It's food." Joshua laughed. "You'll need to trust me on that one. You can just eat it. Doesn't need cooking."

Clementine attempted to tear open the packet, unsuccessfully. Lee scoffed and easily ripped open the packaging for her. She smiled up at him before sticking her hand in the packaging, taking out a large piece of dried up meat. "Look, it tastes good when you're hungry," Will said with a chuckle.

Clementine bit into the meat, attempting to bite the chewy, almost tasteless and tough meat apart. After several bites, she managed to eat the slice of meat. "What do you think?" Omid asked.

"It's…uhm…" Clementine mumbled.

The group laughed together. After finishing the food they all grew tired quickly. "Alright, I should get the kid to bed," Lee said with a smile, picking Clementine up and holding her close to him as he walked over to the train.

"Hm, me too," Christa said, poking Omid in the shoulder slightly. Omid rolled his eyes with a laugh, standing up before helping Christa onto her feet.

"Yeah, same. Mason, are you coming?" Emily asked.

"I think I'm just going to go for a little walk, I won't go out of sight of the train, promise," Mason said.

"Mason…I…" Emily sighed.

"I'll be moping around until I clear my head. I'll be back in ten minutes at least." Mason said.

"Alright…ten minutes, at most. I'm counting." Emily said, climbing up onto the train.

Mason sighed and stood up, walking parallel to the train tracks, thinking everything over in his head. He had never missed Catie or Shaun more in his life. Surrounded by people constantly reminding him of them, an adorable little girl and a romantic couple. What he once had and loved was now taken from him, he never knew how much it meant to him until he saw it again with other people.

Mason carried on wandering, glancing at the train every other minute to make sure it was still in sight. He was about to turn around and walk back when he heard a twig snap next to him. He jumped, instinctively pulling his gun from the holster under his shirt and pointed it in the direction of the noise. He couldn't quite see what it was, now that the sun had set, but there was someone there, an outline of a female figure stood in front of him, distanced into the dark forest either side of the train tracks. "Who's there?" Mason announced.

Mason felt something fly right next to his ear, he looked onto the floor behind him, seeing a shining golden bullet dug deep into the ground, he looked back into the forest, and after a split-second ran back over to the train as fast as he could.

 **Hope you enjoyed this chapter guys! Remember, if you liked it, leave me a review! :D**


	13. Wounded

Lee smiled at Clementine who was curled up in a ball next to him. Everyone else in the train was fast asleep, they had passed out minutes into laying down. He clicked the back of his neck and yawned, getting ready to lie down and go to sleep as well, until he heard shouting from outside the train.

Lee shot up and looked over to the closed train door. He nervously pulled out his revolver and snuck over to the train door. He took one of the handles of the sliding doors and slid them open slowly. He peeked through to see Mason red-faced, teary-eyed, pointing behind him and yelling. "I swear to god! We need to get this thing moving!" Mason yelled.

Lee looked over at the three members of the military, Allen was about to respond when out of nowhere a loud bang was heard from within the forest and his neck began spewing blood. He held his hand over the wound and collapsed shortly after. Lee immediately shut the door and spun around to the other side of the train. "What the shit?!" Christa exclaimed, scrambling back to her feet.

"Lee…?" Clementine gulped, beginning to stand up.

"Clementine, I need you to be a brave girl for me, okay? Stay close to me, and be fast, alright?" Lee said, frantically, looking Clem directly in the eyes.

"…Okay." Clementine said, breathing deep breaths.

"What's going on?!" Omid asked, quietly.

"Alright, assholes, open up." A deep raspy voice said from the side of the train facing the forest.

Lee looked to the other side of the train and approached it on the tip of his toes, before pressing his ear up against the sliding door. Lee looked over to Clementine and signaled with his hand to come closer.

She did as she was told and stuck close to him. Lee put his hand on the handle and slowly opened the door with one hand, holding his pistol in the other.

On the other side of the door, there were three people waiting for him. Lee immediately pulled the trigger on the one in the middle, they began shooting aimlessly, completely missing Lee, allowing him to take them down with minor difficulty.

Lee took Clementine's hand and ran as fast as he could, looking back for a split second to see Mason, Joshua, and Will fighting back the invaders. "Omid?! Christa?!" Lee yelled, looking back one more time.

"Get Clem out of here!" Christa yelled back, invisible to Lee.

Lee took a deep breath, keeping his hand in Clementine's as he sprinted through the forest. After they made it a few steps into the forest they let go of each other's hands to dodge the numerous trees spotted all around the woods. Lee ran from the train as far as he could. When he was sure he was far enough away he stopped, bent over his knees as he panted like a dog. "Baby, are you okay?" Lee asked, looking around him.

Clementine wasn't there. He looked around frantically, holding his hands behind his head, anxiously.

"Clementine!?" He cried. He couldn't hear a response. He broke down, falling to his knees as he looked down at his revolver. He took a deep breath before checking the ammo. "Okay…alright…four bullets left. Get it together."

He stood up and listened closely, attempting to ignore the gentle cricket chirps or the squawking of the crows in the trees. "Well, what do we have here?" A scummy, smoker's voice laughed.

Lee looked around the forest, there was no one around him; the voice was coming from a distance.

"I call dibs. I like 'em young." Another, equally disgusting voice cackled.

Lee clenched his fists around the revolver and stormed into the direction of the voice, his storming walk converting into a jog, the jog turning into a sprint as the repeated voices became more apparent.

He stopped at the sight which was now in front of him. Five men circling Clementine who was desperately looking around for someone to help her. These men looked like stereotypical prisoners, messy, greasy hair, repulsively long beards, all wearing filthy ripped clothing. Lee cocked the revolver and aimed it at one of the men from a distance before he was distracted by another voice.

"Gentlemen…" David panted, approaching the circle of attackers, pushing himself along with his cane. "Please, help an old man, hm?"

The men looked at him before bursting into a collective fit of laughter. "You kidding me?" One of the men chuckled. "Put a bullet in this jackass."

David held his hands up, dropping the cane by his side, although he was still standing up fine. "Just one thing," David said, slowly lowering his left hand.

"You got something to say, spook?" Another man said.

"Just…one thing…" David said, quickly throwing his hand down behind his back, he pulled out a short, easily concealed handgun. He took down three of the men with ease.

One of the rednecks held up his assault rifle, aiming it at David. Lee pointed his revolver at him and pulled the trigger without a second thought. The last man standing looked over to Lee and then back at David, before nervously holding up his machine gun up to David, clumsily switching it back between him and Lee. David, without a second thought, landed a bullet in his brain.

Lee ran over to Clem and David, before slipping the pistol in the back of his jeans. He crouched down to Clementine who was rolling around on the floor, squealing in pain, crying and sniffling. Lee breathed heavily as he slowly rolled Clementine around onto her back. There was a small, but apparent stream of blood covering her shoulder.

Lee's eyes filled with tears as he slowly picked Clementine up, holding her just above the ground. "Baby, stay with me, okay? Stay with me, it's okay. We'll get you fixed up okay? It's only a little hit in the shoulder." Lee said through shaky and half breaths.

"Lee…Lee, am I going to die?" Clementine squeaked, reaching for her shoulder.

"No…no, ssh, it's okay. You're not going to die, you'll be fine. You'll be okay." Lee said, holding Clementine's hand before she touched her shoulder.

"Keep pressure on the wound," David said, crouching down next to Clementine, moving Lee's hand to her shoulder. "Press down on it."

Lee did as David said, pressing his hand down on Clementine's shoulder as she clenched her fists, attempting to breathe through the pain.

"Don't keep it in, angel. Cry if you need to." David said, taking a knife out a pocket knife from his pants and flipping it open. He cut through the sleeve of his shirt and ripped it off.

Clementine at this point was sobbing and crying into her hoodie, trying to make as little noise as she could, whilst Lee was trying his hardest to keep strong for Clem's sake. David took the cutoff piece of his shirt and tied it around Clementine's shoulder, tied around under her arm.

Clementine looked over to Lee before her eyes rolled back and her head fell back onto the forest floor.

 **Holy balls on a potato stick...**

 **I know what I said.**

 **Anyway, hope you enjoyed that pretty damn intense chapter. I decided this story was drifting too much apart from Lee and Clementine, which is what this story is actually about xD So, this is the way I went with it. Again, I hope you enjoyed it!**

 **See you next chapter!**


	14. Breaking

**God, I hate cliff-hangers.**

 **Enjoy!**

 _Lee huffed, hanging his jacket up on a hook attached to his door. "Hey." Lee's wife, Laura, said half-heartedly._

 _Lee remained silent, walking over to the couch with hunched shoulders._

" _How was the interview?" She asked._

" _Just like the rest of them." Lee sighed. "Waste of time."_

 _His wife rolled her eyes. Lee wanted to snap. He had always wanted to just yell at her, to tell her the truth, that he had expected her to be having sex with another man when he walked in._

 _The doorbell rang. "That's for me." She mumbled, standing up to go to the door._

" _Where are you going?" Lee asked._

" _Just out for a while with Melissa." Laura said._

" _Alright. I'm heading out in a second. I probably won't be here when you get-_

 _Lee was cut off as Laura slammed the door shut behind her, walking outside with Melissa._

"… _back." He sighed. Lee thought how things could have gone so wrong, last year they were laughing, drinking cocktails on the beaches of Hawaii. Now Laura was gone half the time and Lee was out of the job. He stood up, deciding to get out to the bar and drink his feelings with his friend._

It had been hours of walking through the forest, Clem hadn't woken up. The sun was beginning to rise, and Lee was starting to give up hope.

He cried quietly, holding Clementine close to him as she draped her arms around his neck. "Its alright, Lee. God will heal her, I'm sure of it." David said, walking closely next to Lee.

"David, you're a nice man. But shut the fuck up. God's not gonna do shit." Lee snapped, through his half breaths.

"It may feel that way but-

"You must be goddamn, deaf. Until Clementine is better, all the walkers around me drop dead, and all my friends and family come back to life, I'll stand by my belief that god doesn't exist, and if he is, I want to put a bullet through his motherfucking brain." Lee huffed, hugging Clementine as tightly as he could.

The only thing confirming she was okay was her irregular heart beat Lee felt against his chest. His head flooded with worst-case scenarios, what if she turned and he had to put her down? The thoughts made him sick to his stomach. He was cut out of his dark thoughts when David lay his hand on Lee's shoulder and pointed to a small house on the edge of the woods.

Lee's breaths grew deep and his eyes began to tear up from the relief. He began walking towards the house, his walk quickly turned into a sprint as he ran as fast as he could towards the house. He stopped at the door of the house. It was clearly run down, it looked as if it was abandoned even before the apocalypse, the bricks were old and covered in moss, the paint on the door was shredded and peeling off. But it would do. It had to.

Lee could see David planning out scoping the house in his head, and he didn't have time. Lee huffed. "Here, hold her." Lee gulped, passing the small girl into David's arms. David did as he was told, but with confusion plastered on his face.

"What do you want me to do?" David asked.

"If she doesn't wake up, I've got nothing to lose…" Lee said, rolling up his sleeves, reaching for his hatchet, but realising it wasn't there. He sighed and picked out his revolver before storming through the door.

David gasped as Lee stormed through the door, without a care in the world. He knew protesting wouldn't do anything, so he pressed his back up against one of the old brick walls of the house, looking down at the small girl. He closed his eyes and tilted his head up to the sky. "Please, my lord. Let your child be okay. Let the little angel live. Amen." He mumbled to himself. He looked down to the girl with a smile, having faith the prayer would work.

After a few more minutes, Lee stood in the doorframe of the house, dumping a walker outside the door. His fists were clenched, sweat dripped down his forehead as he stared at the walker. It's face had been smashed in completely and it's blood poured from Lee's hands. "Get her in here." Lee sighed, quietly, leading David inside.

Lee dusted off an old leather couch in the living room and put a nearby pillow up for Clementine. David set her down onto the couch. He sat down in a nearby arm chair after leaning his cane next to it. He looked over to Lee who was pacing behind the couch Clementine was passed out on, as blood dripped from his still clenched fists. "Friend, please, you need to stay calm." David said.

Lee huffed and sat down on the arm of the couch. He looked down at his feet, before wiping his bloody hands on his jeans. "What…what am I going to do, David...?" Lee said as tears started to fill his eyes with instant speed.

"Lee, you need to believe me. She'll be okay. I promise you. I'm going to go and search the house for supplies, stay with the girl in case she wakes up." David said, picking up his cane on the way to the dusty old carpeted stairs.

Lee replaced David in the arm chair. He closed his eyes and put his head back, on the verge of a complete breakdown. He looked over to Clementine after wiping his eyes.

She was barely moving, the only sign she was living was her gentle breaths escaping her mouth. Clementine lay there helplessly, David's shirt was still wrapped around her shoulder in an attempted to stop the bleeding.

"…L…Lee?" She mumbled.

 **Hey guys, I just wanted to let you know, I might not be writing for a little bit (don't worry, I'm talking a few days tops) I'm just hitting a brick wall in terms of writing, I'm sure you've noticed, but I just don't feel my writing is up to par.**

 **And if I've learnt anything from writing, if it's starting to feel like homework rather than a hobby, take a break.**

 **Thanks for reading! See you when I see you! :D**


	15. Operation

It had been two days since they had arrived at the house, and Clementine was drifting in and out of consciousness. It had become quickly apparent if they didn't do something, her life would be lost.

Lee rushed through the door and slammed it behind him, staring down at his full hands. He had managed to get everything he needed. The bandages, the disinfectant and the needle. "Got everything." Lee huffed, dumping the objects on the coffee table next to the couch Clementine was still passed out on.

"Where did you find these?" David asked.

"It doesn't matter. We just need to get this done." Lee said.

"You'll want to take a seat upstairs, Lee. This might get a bit much." David explained.

"No. She's my girl, I'm not leaving her." Lee said, stubbornly. "Besides, I've seen worse, I'm sure."

"Lee, demons and dead bodies are one thing. She may as well be your daughter, it's never a good thing for a-

"I'm staying…" Lee said, taking a seat across the room from Clementine and David.

"If you say so…" David sighed.

David huffed and slowly unravelled the makeshift bandages made out of his ripped shirt. He stared down at the dry and wet bloody mess around Clem's shoulder. He moved away her pink hoodie, the bullet had completely torn through her shirt, but didn't notice any tearing from the other side of her hoodie. The bullet was still inside, like he had suspected.

Lee sighed from across the room. He sat nervously, tapping his leg up and down, pressing his sweating palms up against his forehead. "Just try and relax." David said, knowing it was just going to be ignored by Lee.

He looked next to him, a set of objects for the operation were sat on the coffee table next to the couch. David grabbed the tweezers from the coffee table and pinched them together a couple of times. He squinted his eyes as he attempted to find the bullet stuck in the girl's flesh. He smirked in victory as he spotted the bloody shine stuck near the front of the wound. He carefully dug the tweezers in and quickly pulled out the bullet.

David's successful smile turned into a concerned grimace as he noticed it was only half of a bullet. He dropped the small metal shell beside him and looked back at the gunshot. He opened the wound slightly in an attempt to find the rest of the bullet. He finally managed to spot it, without second thought he pinched it with the tweezers. He flinched slightly as a squeaky whimper was heard next to him.

Lee launched up, rushing over to Clementine. "L-L…Lee." She wheezed.

"Sshsshssh, it's okay, baby girl." Lee comforted, taking Clem's free hand.

David looked at the two and nodded before continuing with the operation. Clementine gulped and stared at him lower the tweezers into her shoulder. She began to wince, the wince turning into an anxious breath, before the breathing turned into screaming and crying from the pain.

Lee wanted to fight back against the operation, but knew it was all for the girl's own good. After a few more minutes of tears and yelling the bullet was out and placed next to the other piece on top of the coffee table. David sighed of relief and dropped the tweezers next to the bullets.

He threaded the needle with some string he had found in the house and, without any hesitation stabbed it through Clem's skin. She let out a screech of pain, but David persisted, repeating the process until the open wound was shut.

Lee quickly took the disinfectant and opened the lid up. He applied it to Clementine's bullet wound before rolling the bandages around her wound. David helped tie the bandages up.

Lee looked over to Clementine, who was still crying, clutching her shoulder. He instantly pulled her into a hug, making sure not to hurt her shoulder. "Oh my god…I love you, sweetheart." Lee gulped.

Clementine cried into his shirt, squeaking and whimpering almost continuously.

After a few hours of cuddling and sitting with Clementine, Lee grew tired. He stared down at Clementine who was fast asleep snuggling up to his arm. After conforming she was okay, he closed his eyes and lent his head back.

He awoke in the middle of the night. The room was pitch black, with only the faint light of the moon outside, and the insignificant glowing hands of his watch. The dark didn't bother him, it was the faint panting coming from the door. He slowly stood up, making sure not to wake Clementine. He pulled out his revolver from the back of his pants and cocked it before approaching door. He pressed his ear against the door. The panting persisted. He gently lay his finger on the trigger before pulling the door open slowly. He couldn't see anything.

He looked down at the doorstep to see a dog, showing its teeth in a snarl. It was tall, above the man's knee, with black and white, bloody fur. Its eyes looked angry, one blue and the other green. The dog barked loudly before leaping on top of Lee.

Lee fought back, kicking the dog off of Lee with a grunt. "The fuck?!" A voice said from nearby outside. "Guys! Over here!"

Lee's eyes widened as he looked off into the distance. He stood up, catching his breath as several beams of flashlights approached through the forest.

"Clementine! Wake up, sweetheart, okay?" Lee said, running over to the couch, slamming the door behind him.

Clementine rolled around and opened her eyes. "…Huh?" She asked, holding her shoulder.

"Lee! What's going on?" David asked, taking out his small handgun.

"We need to get out of here. I'll explain later." Lee said.

Lee looked around and sprinted over to the door, swinging it open. The beams were getting closer. "You really think you'd get away with this, asshole?!" A voice said, before a bullet was heard speeding past the front door.

"Lee…" Clementine sniffled.

"It's okay, angel. We'll keep you safe." David said, rubbing Clem's back comfortingly.

Lee took a step out the door, immediately being knocked over by the dog, it growled, menacingly, biting at Lee's face. Lee was trying desperately to keep the biting jaws of the animal away. "Heel!" A stern voice commanded.

The dog barked at Lee before jumping off of him. Lee looked over to Clementine as footsteps approached from outside the house.

Clementine looked up at David who took her hand, running towards the kitchen. He kicked the door open and rushed outside, letting go of Clem's hand. "With me!" He said, sprinting through the dark and damp forest.

Clementine started to feel faint, and her shoulder was aching. She tripped over something on the forest floor, clumsily. After a few seconds she was back on her feet. Clem opened her eyes wide, trying to find David in the dark forest as gunshots and yelling were heard in the distance. She was completely blind in the darkness on the forest.

She took a deep breath and held her arms out in front of her as she tried to navigate herself through the forest.

 **Back with a dramatic chapter. :D Glad to be back writing. I got over my writers block, thankfully quite quick.**


	16. Ethan

Clementine stumbled through the forest, her vision beginning to blur and her shoulder was drenched in blood. Clem looked around the dark forest, her heart was racing and her face was dripping with tears. "…L…L…Lee…" She sniffled through shallow breaths. "W…where are you?" She cried.

The cold air quickly got to her lungs making her cough uncontrollably, until she was leaning on a nearby tree. "Ho-ly shit…" A voice said from behind her.

Clementine spun her head around, almost falling over. There was a man standing, his face plastered with a look of surprise. Clementine looked around, grabbing a stick on the ground, holding it up to the man as a pathetic attempt to fend him off. "L…L-leave me alone…p-please…" She whimpered.

"It's alright, I'm not going to hurt you." The man said with a sincere look. The man was tall, especially from Clementine's point of view. He had slicked back greying black hair with light stubble around his mouth. His brown eyes were warm and kind, comforting Clementine slightly. He was wearing a thin black jacket under a blood-stained white t-shirt. He had large brown laced-up boots under a pair of faded blue jeans.

"J-j-just leave me alone…please." She sniffed.

The man slowly approached with his hands up. "It's okay…it's alright, I have a group of people, we can help you, we have a doctor there." He said.

Clementine noticed the man approaching, she stepped back a few paces, looking behind her with ever step. "I…I just need to…" Clementine stumbled. "I just need to find my daddy…"

"Aw, it's okay. We can find him, I'm sure. But if you carry on, on your own you'll pass out. Look, my name's Ethan." He said, holding his hand out to Clementine, placing his hand around the stick the girl was holding up to him. He gently took the stick off of her and threw it beside him. "C'mon, I'll show you where we're set up."

"I…I…I don't…I don't…know…" Clementine said, her eyes starting to close, slightly. Clementine's stomach began to tingle. She felt a burning in her throat, reaching up through into her mouth. She began vomiting onto the forest floor before falling backwards, completely passing out.

Clementine finally opened her eyes. She was frozen in place for a second, the same awful taste of vomit still present in her mouth. Her heart remained to race as she attempted to figure out where she was. She managed to jerk her head around, she was lying down on a wooden cot in the corner of a large tent with a fluffy blanket wrapped around her. It was as dark as before outside with a glow of orange from a campfire outside. She sat up slowly, her shoulder wasn't as aching as much as before. She moved the blanket away from it. She was wearing a different t-shirt to before. Clem pulled down the neck of the t-shirt to see a professionally wrapped layer of bandages around her bullet wound.

Her body stiffened up as a man walked through into the tent. The man looked at her with a smile. "You're awake." He gasped. It was the same man from the forest.

Clementine shot up from the cot and looked around for something to use as a weapon. "Easy…easy…" Ethan said, holding his hands up. "How's your shoulder, hon?"

Clementine stayed silent, trying her hardest not to burst into tears of fear. "How's the…patient?" A man said, walking through the tent. "Oh…I wasn't expecting her to be awake so soon. I would've given it another hour."

The man stood next to Ethan. He had messy black hair brushed backwards. He sounded Mexican in ethnicity. He was wearing a buttoned up checked flannel shirt and a pair of navy pants. He approached Clementine calmly with a smile. He crouched down in front of her. "Hello. My name is Dr. Carlos." He said. "May I?" The man gestured to Clementine's shoulder.

Clementine stood back, shying away from the man. "It's okay. He's a doctor." Ethan said.

"It's alright, Ethan. I'll take care of her. The others need to talk to you about the other matter…" Carlos said. "Besides I'm sure Rex is missing you."

The man rolled his eyes with a smile. "I'll be back later." He said.

Just before he walked out the tent, something else walked through. A dog. Tall, with black and white bloody fur.

Clementine instantly recognised the animal as the dog with the people who attacked the house. Her heart began to race. She desperately looked around the tent, but couldn't find any sort of weapon. She sighed, trying to calm down, knowing attacking these people wouldn't help her.

"Alright, I'll check back in here in ten minutes. C'mon, Rexy." He said, petting the dog on the head before walking out the tent. The dog followed him closely.

"What's your name, sweetheart?" Carlos asked, laying his hand out to the girl. Clementine decided to play along, waiting for an opportune moment to make her escape. She hesitantly put her hand in his. Carlos smiled at her before rolling up the girls' sleeve past her shoulder.

"C…Clementine." She mumbled.

"Clementine? That's a sweet name. I have a daughter. Her name's Sarah. Now, does it hurt if I press down here?" He asked before poking her bandaged shoulder.

"Ow!" She yelped.

"Sorry…I'll take that as a yes, then. What happened? Ethan thinks it's a bit of shrapnel…" Carlos began.

"What's a shrapnel?" Clementine asked.

"It's…like a little sharp piece of something. Like wood, usually. My friend Luke thinks it's a stab wound. But of course, they're not doctors. When did you get shot?" Carlos said.

"Few days ago, I think…" Clem said, timidly.

"Hm…not to worry you, Clementine…but it's a miracle you survived, being unmediated for that long. Unless…you did have medi-

"Carlos, we need to talk. Now." A man interrupted, standing in the doorway of the large tent. He had a smooth Texan accent and, like Ethan he had warm brown eyes. His light brown hair was long, messy and in tangles. He was wearing a dirty yellow t-shirt and a pair of jeans.

"Ah, Luke we were just talking about you…" Carlos said, obviously distracted about something in his mind.

"Oh, hi, kid." Luke said with a weak wave aimed at Clementine. Clem shyly smiled to herself. "Carlos. C'mon."

"One second." Carlos sighed, following Luke out of the tent.

 **Please read if you like Clementine being cute. :D**

 **I was thinking of starting a series of drabbles. I did have a story like this called Clementine Is Adorable, which was inactive so much so I ended up deleting it. Now it's the same concept…probably going to keep the same name…**

 **Basically it's cute moments I write about Clementine and another character, whether it's from the walking dead or another video game, it doesn't matter.**

 **I'll be co-writing a few of these chapters with a friend, A Secret Life of Writing.**

 _ **What I need from you is:**_

 **For you to tell me if this is something you'd want to read! Just let me know, PM me, review on here, whichever is fine, just let me know! :D**

 **Even better, tell me a character you'd want to see Clemmy being cute with!**

 **Thanks! See you next chapter!**


	17. It's A Long Story

As soon as Carlos was no long in sight, she jumped down from the cot. She grabbed her shoulder as she slowly snuck to the exit of the tent. She peeked around the corner, seeing all six members of the group. Luke, Carlos, and Ethan, as well as two others, a man and a woman, standing together closely. The two were similar in appearance, both darker skinned with brown hair and brown eyes, the woman was slightly slimmer than the man and wore a long-sleeved shirt and a pair of jeans. The man who completed the couple was only just taller than the woman next to him and wore a pale gray jacket over a buttoned-up shirt and a pair of slacks.

There were also two other men standing next to each other, one looked around the same age as Luke, wearing a navy blue hoodie and a pair of jeans, as well as a crimson red truckers cap on top of a head of shoulder-length hair all slicked back.

The other man looked much older than anyone else in the camp, with short white hair and a face of thick black stubble. He was wearing a green waterproof jacket and a pair of matching pants.

"Alright, what's wrong?" Carlos asked.

"We know who that dude was…" Luke sighed.

"The girl's father," Ethan said.

"What?!" Carlos gasped.

"The man who took our medical supplies…it makes sense. We go into his place to get the supplies back, we hear him yelling at someone to run and Ethan comes across an injured girl in the middle of the forest." The old man said.

"Pete's right…the girl was in too good of a condition to be out there with no medical supplies…" Carlos said.

"Jesus, this is so fucking screwed, this isn't what we're here for!" The man in the cap mumbled, pacing back and forth.

"Nick, settle down," Luke said.

"If that's true then…oh my god…we need to get the girl back to him." The woman said.

"What do we say, Rebecca? We just rock up to his house and say 'Hey, look I know we took your daughter but…uh…here.'…" Ethan said, sarcastically.

"Don't get like that with me. I'm just trying to do the right thing." The woman said.

"She's right, though. We practically kidnapped the girl." Carlos said.

"So, how do we get her back?" The man with Rebecca said.

"Well, maybe we should get someone the guy didn't see to give her back and say they found her in the woods," Luke suggested.

"Nah, what if the girl says something," Rebecca said. "Alvin, any ideas, baby?"

"Guys…" Ethan mumbled.

"Not that I can think of…maybe if we…no…" The man said.

"Guys," Ethan said.

"How about if we-

"Guys!" Ethan yelled. "Stop, just…just fucking stop…"

"What do you mean 'stop'?" The man in the cap questioned. "What the fuck are we going to do?!"

"We've got this, Nick, stop stressing. We'll think of something." Luke said.

"No…no, we don't 'got this'. He's fucking d-." Clementine's shoulder instantly started aching, making a sharp, almost blinding pain. She completely collapsed onto the ground, rolling on the floor in pain as tears fell from her face.

"Clementine, are you okay?" Carlos asked, running into the tent.

"Jesus, is she alright?" Luke asked.

"Here, help me get her onto her bed." Carlos said.

"Sure," Luke said, lifting Clementine gently into his arms, before carrying her onto the cot.

"The painkillers must have worn off. I think I have some more around here, I'll-

"What the fuck?!" Rebecca yelled.

"Hey! Hey! Easy!" A voice said from outside. The voice was familiar to Clem, yet not belonging to anyone in the group.

"What was that?" Luke questioned.

"Get out there, I'll be right with you." Carlos ordered, before Luke sprinted outside of the tent.

"Keep your hands where I can see them!" Pete commanded.

"What he said. Who are you?" Ethan interrogated.

Carlos repeatedly looked to the exit of the tent and back at Clem before grunting, grabbing his gun and joined the rest of the group outside.

Clementine looked up to the exit of the tent. She dried her eyes as she jumped off the cot, thankfully the pain of the gunshot was starting to fade.

"That's not important. I'm not staying for long. I was wondering if you've seen anyone come by here." The stranger asked. Clementine took a deep breath as she hesitantly and slowly approached the tent exit, still clutching her aching shoulder.

"Nope. Nobody. Now answer his question. Who are you?" Nick said.

"Look, that's all I needed. I'll be on my way." The man said.

"Wait…wait. Guys, we're getting caught up in our own problem here. Remember what we're out here for. Sir, my name's Ethan North." He said.

"Ethan, one issue at a time," Pete said.

"Look, I don't care about names, okay? I'm wondering if you've seen my friends." The man said. Clem slowly peeked around the corner of the tent and finally got a glimpse of the man.

"Look, let me explain, I-

"Mason!" Clementine gasped, interrupting Ethan as she ran over to Mason. The boy crouched down with open arms. Clementine leaped into his embrace, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Oh, my god…Jesus Christ, I thought I'd never find you. Sweetheart, listen to me, where is everyone?" He asked.

"I…I don't know," Clem said.

"You know the girl?" Alvin asked.

"Yeah, I know her…how'd she end up here?" Mason asked.

"That's a…uh…that's a long story," Ethan said, with a subtle laugh. "I'd love to explain it to you. Please, stay for dinner."

"I don't know…" Mason sighed.

"I'm afraid you don't have much of a choice. The girl needs some time to heal." Carlos said.

"Heal? What?" Mason questioned. "What happened?"

"That's…uh…that's part of the long story…" Ethan said.

 **Thanks for reading guys! Sorry if that ending part seemed a bit rushed or awkward, I couldn't think of another way to finish it.**

 **Hope you enjoyed! See you in the next chapter!**


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